Book Talk: The Words That Made Us by Akhil Reed Amar

Oct. 26, 2022
12:10PM - 1:00PM
SLB Room 128 and online
Open to the Public

Boxed lunch will be available during the event for those who RSVP.

About the Book:

A history of the American Constitution's formative decades from a preeminent legal scholar.

When the US Constitution won popular approval in 1788, it was the culmination of thirty years of passionate argument over the nature of government. But ratification hardly ended the conversation. For the next half century, ordinary Americans and statesmen alike continued to wrestle with weighty questions in the halls of government and in the pages of newspapers. Should the nation's borders be expanded? Should America allow slavery to spread westward? What rights should Indian nations hold? What was the proper role of the judicial branch?

In The Words that Made Us, Akhil Reed Amar unites history and law in a vivid narrative of the biggest constitutional questions early Americans confronted, and he expertly assesses the answers they offered. His account of the document's origins and consolidation is a guide for anyone seeking to properly understand America's Constitution today.

Sponsoring Organization(s)

Lillian Goldman Law Library